Time Heals All Wounds
by WJCTheatreChick
Summary: This story begins on the anniversary of the death of Sarah Roberts. A retired AJ takes Harriet to visit the cemetery, and what they find there sends the walls Harriet has so carefully built around her heart crashing down once more.
1. A Chance Meeting Can Change A Lot

Disclaimer: I don't own the JAG characters, I'm just borrowing from DB's toybox for a little while.

Spoilers:

Ignores Hail and Farewell. Harm didn't come back to JAG after his stint in the CIA.

Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting Can Change A Lot

November 17th, 2004

JAG Bullpen

Desk of Harriet Sims

'I should have stayed home today.' Harriet Sims sat gloomily at her desk staring at the vase full of pink roses that occupied the upper right corner next to the phone.

There had been four to start with, delivered first thing this morning with a note.

**Sarah would have been four today, and I wanted to remember her. Since I know Bud is in court all day, I would like to pull retired Admiral's privilege and have the honor of taking you to lunch.**

** A.J. Chegwidden**

She wasted no time in picking up the phone, and now was waiting for him to come pick her up. The roses had multiplied all day – one each from Harm, Sturgis, Jen, Mattie, Manetti, Tiner , Mikey and, of all people, the Sec Nav. He'd run into Jen the night before at the flower shop since Harm, Tiner & Mikey had called her and requested she buy one for them and leave it on Harriet's chair – each thinking he had an original idea. Clayton Webb, not to be outdone, had sent a rosebush. It was signed jointly from him and Mac.

Another note accompanied it:

Dear Harriet –

I am so sorry I cannot be here today - I know Sarah will give you her condolences in person, but I wanted you to know I am thinking of you as well. A second bush will be planted near Sarah's grave in the Infant's Garden. Call the Gardener at the Webb estate and he'll come out and plant it wherever you want. Particularly now that my Sarah is expecting a child of our own I realize how hard this must still be for you.

Love Always,

Clayton Webb

'Wow' thought Harriet to herself. 'What a change…the tin man finally found his heart… A year ago, he wouldn't have even thought about something like this. ' Just then AJ walked into the bullpen.

"Nice Flowers, Harriet. I see I wasn't the only one to think of pink roses this morning." He came around the desk to give her a hug. "How are you holding up?"

She smiled softly, "I'm alright, sir – being miserable on this day will never completely go away, but every year it gets a little easier." AJ helped her with her coat and escorted her down to the car.

After a leisurely lunch at Callisto's, they headed towards the cemetery. AJ pulled the car to the side of the plot access road, then opened Harriet's door. Pulling open the back passenger door he removed a small bouquet of flowers.

As they approached the grave, they were surprised to see someone was already there, standing staring at the name on the grave. A small bunch of white roses sat propped against the stone, obscuring the date.

The man started as he sensed their approach. Harriet gasped as she got a good look at his face. "Dr. Gettis?"


	2. Meeting Someone

Disclaimer: I don't own the JAG characters, I'm just borrowing from DB's toybox for a little while.

Spoilers:

Ignores Hail and Farewell. Changes the fact from Harriet's first pregnancy about the fate of her baby.

Chapter 2: Meeting Someone

November 17th, 2004

1330 Romeo

Grave of Sarah Roberts

Gettis turned to face them. Harriet was shocked to see that there were tears streaming down his face as well. He spoke. "I'm sorry – I intended to be long gone before you got here – the caretaker says you usually come on your way home from work. I know I'm probably the last person on Earth you want to see right now, so I'll get out of your way." Having uttered his apologies rapidly, he caught a breath and turned towards a navy blue convertible.

"Is that your car? I wondered whose it could be – plus, I thought you drove a Porsche." The Admiral questioned.

"After what happened with Sarah while I was out test-driving the thing I couldn't stand to look at it. I gave it back to the dealer." Gettis spoke softly. "Plus, this has a backseat suitable for a car seat."

"A car seat?" This time it was Harriet doing the questioning.

"Yeah – it would be easier to just show you – do you have anywhere to be in the next hour or so? There are a few people I want you to meet."

Harriet shook her head, looking to the Admiral. He said only "Do you have directions, or do you want us to follow you?"

'We're going to Children's Hospital – but you can take your time here and meet me there. Would an hour give you enough time? After Harriet nodded, he said, "just go up to the desk and ask for me. I'll tell them I'm expecting you."

November 17th, 2004

1500 Romeo

Children's Hospital

Harriet stared at the doors of Children's Hospital with trepidation. The last time she had been here was not quite four years ago when she and Bud had brought the box of Sarah's things to donate. Her little shoes, her baby book – giving those away was one of the hardest things she had ever done. The Admiral took her arm and led her into the main hall and across to the desk.

They didn't even get a chance to speak. The volunteer at the desk said, " You must be Mrs. Roberts and Admiral Chegwidden. Dr. Gettis is expecting you. Tracie will show you upstairs." She nodded to a teenaged candy striper who was looking up patient room numbers for the florist making his afternoon delivery.

"Right this way Ma'am, Sir." She escorted them to the elevator, pressing the button for the seventh floor. As they stepped onto the floor, there was a sign that said "SHHH! Babies Sleeping." Dr. Gettis stepped out of one of the rooms down the hall with a baby in his arms, obviously only a few minutes old. He said "let me hand her in to the nurse to get washed and weighed, and I'll be right there. Tracie, can you help them get washed up?"

Tracie led them to a sink, pointing to a dispenser of anti-bacterial soap. "Anyone visiting patients needs to wash thoroughly up to the elbows, faces and exposed parts of your neck too, since the babies like to snuggle there."

Dr. Gettis came in and washed up again. "That was a tough one. The mom didn't even want to see the baby before it went to the adoptive parents – didn't even ask if it was a boy or girl, just if it was healthy. She's only seventeen and this is her second child."

Harriet said, "I know how she feels – I didn't want the baby I was pregnant with when I was that age. I didn't ask either. I hate myself for it now. I can't even begin to look until she is eighteen – and I only found out I had a girl during my own testimony when your lawyer brought it up."

"I'm sorry, Harriet. I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories. Do you think it would help her if you talked to her? Maybe tomorrow if you have time – the meds I gave her will keep her out for the rest of today. I guess you are wondering why I brought you here. I wanted to show you that when I said I would never willingly let anyone hurt like you did, I meant it."

Harriet just looked at him.

"Sarah's death was a turning point for me – it forced me to look in the mirror, and I was disgusted with what I saw. I volunteer here three days a week, plus deliveries. I work with the pregnant teenagers in the crisis pregnancy program, making sure they get medical care whether they have insurance to cover it or not. I'd like you to meet some of the girls – they need good role models, and that's something I can't do. But that wasn't who I brought you to meet today." He led them down the hall to a self-contained ward.

"This is a baby ward for babies that need constant care some that teenage moms just can't cope with. Some stay here for over a year – its sort of a step down from the real hospital. There are apartments upstairs that the mothers can have. Instead of rent, there are required classes – parenting, housekeeping, budgeting, etc. –plus they can work on a GED if they didn't graduate. There are a few kids here without parents that just stayed instead of being placed in a foster home. One of them is very special to me."

He led then to a small door with a nameplate that had a rubber duck on it. Harriet began to shake as she read the name. "Sarah."

He opened the door softly. A little girl about a year old was snuggled in the crib fast asleep. She was of Asian descent, with almond shaped eyes screwed tight in sleep, a lock of black hair falling across her face. One chubby hand was wrapped in the blanket; the other was around a stuffed Oscar the Grouch doll. "She loves Sesame Street, Gettis said " we can visit with her when she wakes up."

Harriet meanwhile had spotted something on the shelf above the changing table. She reached up and slid the slender volume from its place, running her hands over the embossed letters spelling out – Sarah's Baby Book. Tears began to slip down her cheeks again.

Gettis walked over and took her arm. "Let's talk in the conference room. I don't want to wake her. You can bring the book if you want"

Once they were settled in the conference room, Gettis began to speak once more, addressing Harriet. " One of my first days here was about two weeks after Sarah died. I saw you and your husband come in with the box. After it had been logged in, I took it to my office. Most of the items I gave back to put in the donations closet, but I kept a few. Her book, her shoes, and the pink blanket with her name on it – I gave the shoes to a baby born about a month later. Her mother had used every scrap of her allowance to buy an outfit for her to come home it, but didn't have shoes. So I gave them to her. I still see them every few months, when Laura brings Bethie in to see the pediatrician. The shoes are bronzed now, on Bethie's shelf in her room."

He stopped to catch a breath. "The blanket and the book I kept until just over a year ago, when someone dumped a baby on the steps. No note, nothing to tell us who she was or where she came from. So we named the baby to match the book."

TBC


	3. Wrapped Around Your Little Finger

Chapter 3: Wrapped Around Your Little Finger

November 17th, 2004

1520 Romeo

Children's Hospital Conference Room

Harriet tearily opened the first page of the book, the name "Sarah Anne" was written on the little line for the baby's name. She slowly perused all the pictures and information. There were several different people who had written in the book, with notations of all the major growth and development milestones, pictures of her playing, sleeping, being read to, with Santa the previous Christmas, with Dr. Gettis and a few sets of nice studio portraits.

At Harriet's questioning glance, Gettis explained that he had taken Sarah to have the pictures taken. "I was going to send one to you – I wanted you to know that I had kept the promise I made to you in the courtroom that day. But I was afraid it would hurt too much. And the last thing I wanted was to rip your heart open again."

So he had contented himself with putting them into Sarah's book. All were lovingly labeled on the back with the date, Sarah's name and her age when the picture was taken. He proudly informed them that the nurses and the volunteers kept a book on every baby they had in this ward, so that when they eventually went home to adoptive homes or home with a parent, they would know about the first years of their lives. " This came out of an experience we had a few weeks after I came here. We had a little girl of about nine come in and ask if there was anyone still on staff from the time she was born. She had a school assignment – she had to trace her family tree and she had to write down the story of when she was born. There was one lady still here, but she didn't remember much. So now we started the books. I take a picture with every baby I deliver and keep it in an album, plus a copy to go in the book, or home with the adoptive parents to go in their book. Either way, they know where they came from, as much as we know." A knock on the door interrupted him.

A volunteer stuck her head in, a sleepy baby in her arms. "Laurie, Sarah's up. Give Marge a few minutes to get a clean diaper on her, though. However, I was told you had more company that had a comfortable set of arms." She walked over to the Admiral and handed him a blanketed bundle. "This is Amy Jo. Ask Laurie about the name. I'll be back with Sarah in a few." Seeing the Admiral completely mesmerized by the baby, She quietly backed up and exited.

Gettis quickly got up and headed towards the cupboard, pulling out a camera. Amy Jo had snuggled up against the Admiral's chest, one hand fisted in his navy blue sweater, the other snugly wrapped around big AJ's index finger. The latter was staring down at the sleeping child with a look of complete adoration on his face. At the burst from the camera flash he looked up. "So, what about this name thing? And how did you end up with a name like Laurie, anyway?"

Dr. Gettis smiled. "It started with Bethie's mom – the one I gave the shoes to. We didn't have many movies for our new DVD player at the time, and she watched Little Women over and over…"

AJ interrupted. "Ah. Laurie, Beth, and Amy Jo. Is there a Meg, by any chance?"

"Yes. Meg is probably napping at the moment. And just like the Meg in the movie, she lives anything to do with cats. We had a therapy cat in here a few weeks ago, and she didn't want to let her go. She'll be three in a few weeks, and all she wants is a kitten. Meg was named after her mother, though. She's up in the oncology hospice. They put one in the Children's Hospital so mothers could stay close to their children till the end." He looked at them sadly. "It probably won't be long now." He flipped to a page in the book, dated five weeks before. "Laura brought Bethie in when Amy Jo was born, and they took a picture of the three of them, plus Sarah."

He continued, " Meg has decided custody of little Meg should go to her CIA partner, since she didn't have any family. Unfortunately, he is engaged with a pregnant fiancée, and she's not sure how she's going to take to a three year old too. Finding a phone number for him is next on my list. You are pretty familiar with the intelligence community, Admiral. Do you know of a guy named Clayton Webb?"

AJ sucked in a breath. "That would make his partner Meg Austin, who used to serve under me before she became Naval Intelligence CIA attaché. Dammit! Why didn't she tell us she was sick? We would have helped her. And that would make the fiancée my chief of staff, Sarah Mackenzie. You shouldn't have any trouble there. We can all help out until Mac's baby gets here and she's back on her feet. He stood, handing a still sleeping Amy Jo to Gettis. "I'm going up to see if she is up to talking to me, and then I am going to call Mr. Webb myself. If he won't take Meg, I will." Looking fondly back at Amy, he whispered to himself 'and you, little girl, are going to be mine.'

Harriet and Gettis chatted for a few minutes, then he got up to put Amy Jo in her crib. Returning a few minutes later, he placed a still sleepy Sarah into Harriet's arms. "Just hold her awhile. Either call for me if you want me to take you home, or just bond with her all afternoon if you want. There's a playroom through the door to your right. She likes the baby gym and the swing, plus anything she can hit, like the piano or the tool bench." Harriet nodded, snuggling the small girl closer to her.

After only an hour with Sarah, Harriet knew what she had to do. She got up, carrying Sarah on her hip. After securing use of a phone, she called JAG HQ. Once Bud was on the line, she asked, "Bud, I'm at Children's Hospital. No, no AJ's fine. But get over here and see your daughter. No, I'm not crazy. I'll explain when you get here. Ask the nurse for the Long Term Neonatal/Pediatric Ward. If they don't want to let you up, ask for Dr. Gettis." She hung up, leaving him sputtering.

November 17th, 2004

1700 Romeo

The JAG Bullpen

Falls Church, VA

Bud hung up the phone and went to the General's office, nearly colliding with Mac as she came out the door. "Bud, what's wrong? You're as white as a sheet!"

"I just got a really strange phone call from Harriet, Ma'am. She called and said to come to Children's Hospital and see my daughter. And to top that off, she said of they didn't want to let me up to the floor, to ask for Dr. Gettis! I think she's finally lost it."

"Funny thing, I just got a call from Clay to meet him there. Go ask the General for permission. I'll wait- we can drive over together. I was going to ask for someone anyway, it's getting hard to get behind the wheel."

November 17th, 2004

1730 Romeo

Children's Hospital

Bud and Mac entered the door, but before they made it to the desk, Clayton Webb intercepted them. "Bud, go on up. Harriet and Sarah Anne are in the playroom. Congratulations."

Then Clay nervously turned to Mac. "I guess the best way to do this is just to say it. How would you feel about adopting an almost-three year old?"

Sarah stood there in shock, finally managing, "Boy or girl?"

"Girl. You remember my partner, Meg Austin?" After Sarah nodded in affirmation, he continued, "She's dying of cancer, and wants us to take little Meg. The doctor here finally got a hold of the Admiral today, and he called me. Ironically, he came in with Harriet, after they met Gettis at the cemetery. Apparently another baby has been named after you, since they named the baby to match the book Bud and Harriet donated. Harriet fell in love with her and they're taking her home. Now, if it's ok with you, let's go up and meet our daughter – and your namesake as well."

TBC


End file.
